There are always a variety of opinions about the NFL Draft. Opinions are like, well, you know. But a high-ranking team executive I trust implicitly says this: "Worst draft in past 10 years or longer."

"When we look back at this draft in five or 10 years," said the team executive, "we might view it as one of the worst we've seen in some time."

What I'm hearing repeatedly from some team personnel men, as the draft gets closer and the honesty increases, is that this draft is subpar. Extremely subpar. Few team personnel want to say anything publicly about the paucity of talent out of fear of hearing from the NFL. There's this thought process that if you criticize the draft, you risk the ire of the NFL; the league doesn't want anyone publicly criticizing the draft out of fear of injuring television ratings.

While it's generally acknowledged that teams can get solid players in later rounds of this draft, the quality of drafts are about franchise players. The exceptional. When a draft has a Manning or Elway or Marino or Newton or RG3, that is when scouts and league personnel marvel and smile.

The problem with this draft, says the general manager, is it possibly lacks two important qualities: franchise quarterbacks and large swaths of impact players. There will be more than a few solid players, this GM predicts, but not a large number of great ones.

"There will be 13-15 players picked in the first round that are true first-rounders," he said. "That's a fairly low number."

Last year, according to the general manager, there were 20-23 players who were true first-rounders. That's about average.

Quarterbacks shape a draft the way they shape teams. This general manager believes that none of the quarterbacks is an actual first-round talent. I find that borderline silly as Geno Smith certainly is; but this GM is not alone in his thinking. It does say a lot about this quarterback class when Ryan Nassib could be a top-10 pick. One scout called him Ryan NaLeaf, a totally unfair comparison to the epic bust, Ryan Leaf. Unfair, but kind of funny.

Many millions of people have been wrong about the draft -- including the experts, the men who do the drafting. Maybe this is a case of that. But I think this is mostly right. I think we'll look back at this draft and wince.

I still think that the best bet for the Falcons this draft is Eifert or Ertz. If you want a, "star," with your 1st round pick, that's what these guys would be to our team. Obviously, I would prefer to boost the OL and DL, but because this draft sucks, I don't see any of the, "star," prospects at those positions falling to us.

Robert,I agree with what you have said in other threads about trading picks for next year. With all of the picks we have this year, I would like to see us do what Bellichick has done and gamble on getting those good picks in subsequent years. Wouldn't it be nice to trade a 3rd round pick this year for a second round pick next year?

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